United Nations Security Council held a virtual meeting on the Syria situation. — VNA/VNS Photo 

HÀ NỘI — The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held a regular discussion on the humanitarian situation in Syria on Monday (US time) via teleconference under the chair of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

According to Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, after a “decade of death, destruction, displacement, disease, dread and despair”, there is still no respite in sight for ordinary Syrians. Some 13.4 million people across the country continue to require humanitarian aid, 20 per cent more than in 2020. 

The deep economic decay from a decade of war had deepened over the last year, not least as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said 2021 marks 10 years since the start of the Syrian crisis, “an anniversary no one wanted to see”. Homes, hospitals, schools and water systems had been destroyed, and the economic crisis had plunged 90 per cent of the population into poverty, millions were internally displaced or had fled the country and humanitarian law continued to be flouted with impunity. 

Emphasising that nearly 90 per cent of children across Syria required humanitarian assistance and that 3.2 million young people there and in neighbouring countries were out of school, she warned that they were also vulnerable to violence, exploitation, early marriage, child labour or recruitment into armed groups.

Members of the council showed deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Syria and underlined the need to increase support to locals, especially amid a serious economic crisis and the urgent need for medical supplies and COVID-19 vaccines. They called for stronger diplomatic support to seek political solutions in the country.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, head of the Vietnamese Mission to the UN, showed his concern about the situation in Syria after a decade of conflict, especially difficulties facing women, children and other vulnerable groups.

He called on all parties involved to strengthen cooperation to avoid the interruption of humanitarian aid while calling on the international community to work to ensure the highest efficiency of humanitarian activities.

He stressed the significance of a long-term political solution to the Syrian crisis to completely end the current situation. — VNS